Party-1is1 asks Meralco
lr t to abandon coal
le dr
IL plants) shiftto RE
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l\ ^/l t.,ti"t rlrarP) wants the
Y I lir""ii. Electric co.
{gt (Meralco) to abandon its coal-
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al power plant proiects and instead
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shift to developing renewable-
.- EI energy (RE) sources.
to "Renewable energy is safer,
I El more affordable and more sus-
n- tainable than coal, and it is wel-
come to hear Meralco say they
are committ ing to it. But we don't
want RE to be a token PR proiect
of the company. Meralco should
abandon all its coal-fired power
plant projects and completely
embrace RE," Murang Kuryente
Spokeman Gerry Arances saide
in a statement.
. Meralco saidthe otherdaythat
it plans to develop 1,000 mega-
watts (MW) of renewable-energy
proiects in the next seven years.
'As the biggest distlibution
utilityin the country, ontop ofits
own power-generation proiects,
Meralco is in a position to change
the energymix ofthe Philippines
on its own. We hope this ch;rnge
can be manifested in concrete so-
lutions such as shutting down its
Atimonan coal proiect instead of
using RE just for PR purposes,"
Arances said.
Meralco Powerge n Corp.
(MGen), the power-generation
subsidiary of Meralco, is build-
ing a 1,200-MW coal-firedpower
plaht in Atimonan, Quezon, The
power project has yet to take off
pending the conduct ofa competi-
tive selection process (CSP).
"In fact, theirAtimonan proiect
alone alreadyexceeds theirplanned
investmentin RE forthenextseven
years. Whydoes RE have towaitfor
so long to get the same generating
capacity as Meralcot coalprojects?"
Arances asked.
Coal is currently the biggest
provider of fuel for power plants
in the Philippines, accounting for
more than! third of the installed
capacityinthe country, with more
coal-fired power plants planned
for construction.
" P4q- -*,' When sought for comment,
Meralco said baseload power
sources complenient RE. "Obsi-
ously, some people can't distin-
guish between bas eload.for 24x7
supply and intermittent power
supply availability of renewables.
Our argument is we needbaseload
plant from cheapest source, which
is coal, but using'high efficiency,
low emission' lHelel to be able to
decommission the old and inef-
ficient coal plants, which are on
extended life," MGen President
Rogelio Si.ngson said in a text
message.
"Ray Espinosa, Meralco presi-
dent, and I are advocates ofrenew-
able power, but RE cannot Pro-
vide the required 24x7 reliability
and competitively priced, which
Mer4lco is committed to provide
its 6.7 million customei accounts.
This is the mandate of our Chair-
man ManuelV, Pangilinan toboth
Espinosa and myself for MGen
to be a major player in RE power
supply," Singson said.
The utility firm is also com-
mitted to developing large-scale
RE proieqts that can deliver com-
petitive electricity for its custom-
ers, without any requirement for
subsidy or support, while keeping
environmental stewardship and
sustainability as top priorities in
its business.
These new RE projects will be
housed under a new firm called
MGen Renewable Energy I nc.
(MGreen). Officials said MGreen
aims to bring in additional sup-
ply to support the Philippines's
growth momentum and help
ensure availability of green and
cost-competitive power supply in
the coming years.
"We are working on several
renewable-energy prospects and
we recognize the significant re
duction in the development cost,
particularly for large-scale solar
and wind. over the past years.
Notwith standing the ongoing re-
quirement for new reliable base.
load generation to support the
fast-growing Philippine economy,
we bel ieve the time is right to fo-
cus on building our green-energy
capacity, and we intend to be a key
player in this expanding sector,"
Singson added. Lenie lectuto